Occupation Writer, editor Language English Name Patricia Wrightson | Nationality Australian Role Writer Period 1955–2004 Movies I Own the Racecourse | |
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Born Alice Patricia Furlonger19 July 1921Lismore, New South Wales, Australia ( 1921-07-19 ) Died March 15, 2010, Lis, Australia Nominations Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel Books The Nargun and the S, I own the Racecourse!', An Older Kind of Magic, A Little Fear, Brilliant Bites for Boys Similar People Jane Godwin, Jen Storer, Bruce Dawe, James Moloney, Garth Nix | ||
Col List poem, The bunyp hole by Patricia Wrightson Background is the actual Bunyp hole in Mulgildi
Patricia Wrightson OBE (19 June 1921 – 15 March 2010) was an Australian writer of several highly regarded and influential children's books. Her reputation came to rest largely on her magic realist titles. Her books, including the widely praised The Nargun and The Stars (1973), were among the first Australian books for children to draw on Australian Aboriginal mythology. Her 27 books have been published in 16 languages.
Contents
- Col List poem The bunyp hole by Patricia Wrightson Background is the actual Bunyp hole in Mulgildi
- Early life
- Literary career
- Awards
- Selected works
- References
For her "lasting contribution" as a children's writer she received the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1986.
Early life
She was born on 19 June 1921 in Lismore, New South Wales. She was educated through the State Correspondence School for Isolated Children and St Catherine's College.
Literary career
During World War II, she worked in a munitions factory in Sydney. After her marriage in 1943, she worked as secretary and administrator at Bonalbo District Hospital, from 1946 to 1960, and Sydney District Nursing Association, from 1960 to 1964. She served as Assistant Editor and later editor of the School Magazine, in Sydney, from 1964 to 1970, a literary publication for children.
She wrote 27 books during her lifetime and entwined Australian Aboriginal mythology into her writing. As her writing developed, Wrightson's work revealed two key characteristics: her use of Aboriginal folklore, with its rich fantasy and mystery, and her understanding of the importance of the land. Author, editor and academic Mark MacLeod wrote that "Wrightson thought that it might be possible to reconcile Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian cultures and create a new kind of pan-Australian narrative, in which the human characters from both cultures were strongly aware of and influenced by the metaphysical world that Indigenous Australians had known for 60 000 years." As a non-indigenous person, Wrightson's use of Aboriginal myths and legends in her fiction was questioned by other writers.
She died of "natural causes" on 15 March 2010, a few days after entering a New South Wales hospital.